Chennai: Eight youths were killed on the spot and one sustained injuries when the over-crowded car in which they were travelling rammed into a roadside tree near Vaanamaadevi village in Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu, about 200 km from here, on Saturday.Police sources said had the person behind the wheel heeded to the police advise, the mishap could have been avoided. In all nine people were travelling in the Maruti Swift car when the mishap occurred. Police said eight people, most of them college students, were killed on the spot when the car in which they were proceeding to a temple festival at Puthirankuppam village in the district, rammed into a roadside tamarind tree.The car was being driven at a very high speed and the driver lost control of the vehicle and rammed into the tree, killing eight and injuring one. The impact was such that the mutilated bodies of three people were thrown out of the vehicle. The injured was admitted to a hospital and the bodies were shifted to Cuddalore General Hospital for autopsy. Minutes before the mishap, a team of police personnel, who were creating awareness on road safety week as part of the ongoing road safety week, intercepted their vehicle on the Cuddalore Road and advised them to drive slow and celebrate the Pongal festival safely.But the students ignored the advise and in the end the high-speed driving proved fatal for them. The car was reduced to a mangled heap.
Reports from Cuddalore said two of the victims were hailing from Puthirankuppam village. Following festival holidays, they have invited some of their friends, studying in colleges in Coimbatore and Salem, for the temple festival, when the gory mishap took place. (UNI)
